Potains for Birmingham’s tallest tower

9 July 2020

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Two Potain MR 295 luffing jib cranes are being used for the construction of the 103 Colmore Row, the tallest office building in Birmingham, UK.

Comprising 20,775sqm of office space, the 26-storey tower will also be home to a restaurant located on the top floor.

The 16t and 20t Potain luffers have been on the site since last October, supporting the construction of the concrete core and lifting and assembling steel girders to help build the office tower’s steel frame and winter garden.    

The Potain MR 295 can be equipped with up to 60m of jib, offering up to 2.8t capacity at the end of the jib. For this project, the cranes have been equipped with 40m and 45m jibs, giving a tip load of 6.1t and 4.5t respectively.

The first crane was erected to 114.5m and the second crane was erected on top of the concrete core, 100m above ground level with a tip height of 162m, making it the tallest structure in the city.

“The customer needed a crane with the capacity and reach to meet the tough project specifications while also being compact enough to work in the limited space available,’’ said Kim Dandridge, managing director of Manitowoc Cranes UK.

The MR 295 was supplied for the project by Radius Group, the UK partners of NFT. Nagham Al Zahlawi, deputy general manager of NFT, said: “The Potain MR 295 fulfills all the requirements and we are impressed with the strong performance of the cranes. Building the steel frame will take around 36 weeks to complete and it means the cranes will have to lift more than 2,200t of steel. With the MR 295, the project is progressing rapidly.”